The Week In Transgenderism 6/22/15

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Now and then when we’re searching for items to include in TWIT we come across something truly surprising. Such a thing happened this week when we learned that a trans woman will be appearing in the CBS reality show Big Brother. Her name is Audrey Middleton. Big Brother is still on the air? That is surprising. Learn more in the New York Post.

Writer, performer, female impersonator Charles Busch is a star of stage and screen. Don’t you sometimes wonder which drag artistes he thinks are the best at what they do? Well this is your lucky day. Busch make a list of his Top 10 Drag Performers and he shared it with the world on the Playbill website.

Boone

The big interest in transgender issues has certainly boosted coverage in the news media. Even newspapers are producing videos about trans people. The video about Katherine Boone, who had reassignment surgery at the age of 18 accompanies an article in The New York Times.

Ms. Boone’s story sparked debate on what is the right age for GRS. You can follow the debate in The New York Times.

Maines on Royal Pains.

Nicole Maines, the trans teen who was last in the news for winning her case against her former school over their restricting her restroom rights, is back in the news. She has taken a dramatic role on the television show Royal Pains. Maines will portray a trans teen whose hormone therapy may be endangering her health. The show airs Tuesday at 10 p.m. Learn more in the Portland Press Herald.

When people hear the words “transsexual, transgender” they tend to think of the old “woman trapped in a man’s body” explanation. But it’s possible that gender dysphoria may not be that clearcut for some people. Take the example of Stephanie Robinson. 35 years ago she was a man, married with children. She had an enormous sex drive, would have violent outbursts and made suicide attempts. Her only gender related thing was occasional crossdressing. She sought medical help for her problems and the doctor said she had three choices: brain surgery, aversion therapy or female hormone treatment. Proving that all trans journeys are not the same, check out her story on the Reuters news website.

Hydrangea Bovine

Since yesterday was Father’s Day what would we be if we didn’t include a heartwarming story about a dad? Of course our “dad story” is about a drag queen daddy. Hydrangea Bovine was the stage name of a Vancouver drag queen back in the 1980s. He was part of a drag act called The Bovines and he passed away 10 years ago. His daughter remembers him and The Bovines getting ready for shows at her house but she never saw him perform and never asked him why he did drag. She decided to honor his memory by doing a documentary on him for the CBC. You can read about it, listen to the documentary and see photos on the CBC website.

Breanna Sinclaire

It’s an era of “firsts” for trans people. Last week’s “first” was the first time a trans woman ever sang the national anthem at a major league baseball game. Her name is Breanna Sinclairé and she is an opera singer. Learn more about where the game was held and who won on the MEDIATite website.

Second “first” for the week was the addition of a trans man competitor to The Amazing Race Canada. Hamilton Elliot will race across Canada with his girlfriend in an attempt to win the $1 million prize. Get more info in The Hollywood Reporter.

Speaking of Hollywood, Laverne Cox is credited as the the trans actor who kicked the door open for more trans actors to find work in films and TV. Finding work as an actor of any gender is not easy but it’s easier now for trans actors than it ever has been. Learn more about Cox and other trans actors in upcoming films in The New York Times.

Ruby Rose

Orange is the New Black is not just Laverne Cox’s claim to fame. Another character was introduced to the show in the season that was released on Netflix who identifies as gender fluid. And the actor who portrays that character also identifies that way. Learn more about Ruby Rose on the Quartz website.

Rep. Mike Honda, last in the news for his proud support of his trans granddaughter, is now working in congress to champion trans soldiers. He is sending a letter to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter urging him to establish policies that allow trans military personnel to serve openly. Read more in The New York Times.

The LGBT Center in Los Angeles held its 17th Trans Pride celebration last weekend. The two day event drew around a 1000 people. Many attendees expressed positive feelings about the progress made by the trans community due to the greater visibility it’s gotten lately. Kate Bornstein and Sandy Stone led discussions, and there was also dancing in the hot California sun. Learn more about the event in The Los Angeles Times.

Our “meet a trans man” story today comes from Tennessee. Shaun Arroyo is a 49-year-old trans man who transitioned at age 45 and is working with other trans people in the trans support and education organization Tennessee Vals. Meet him in The Tennessean.

Our “meet a trans woman” article also comes from Tennessee. Read the story of Heather O’Malley who served our country as a member of the 101st Airborne. She attempted suicide before saving her life by transitioning. The story is also in The Tennessean.

Tatenda

From the state of Tennessee we travel rapidly across the Atlantic to land in Zimbabwe. There we meet one of the few trans women in that country to have obtained her gender reassignment surgery. Meet Tatenda Karigambe on the New Zimbabwe website.

Lucia Lucas

Transition on the job is often a hard thing to accomplish. Getting fellow employees to accept your new gender can take some time and in some cases it is never accomplished. But consider this; what if you were an opera singer, a baritone, who could not live without being who you really are? How would that affect your chance to get cast? Would you still play male roles that used your baritone voice? Would you ever be considered for female roles? That’s the subject of an article about Lucia Lucas, a trans woman from the U.S. who works in opera in Germany. Find it on the SlippedDisc website.

Australian drag performer and RuPaul’s Drag Race winner from 2014, Courtney Act, is flawless. Not only is she beautiful but the girl can sing. If you don’t believe me check out her new video for her song Ecstasy. Britney, Rihanna and Christina have some real competition.

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Mentioning Australia reminds us of the iconic film 1994 release, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. That was 21 years ago! If you ever wondered how the film was inspired and then how it got made the Australian Broadcasting Company answers all. They ran a documentary on June 18 that talked about the film, the gay rights movement in Australia, and features interviews with all the actors from the film. You can read about it and watch the full program on the Crikey website.

Pandora Boxx

So you keep saying to yourself you should get in shape. Summer is here already and how are you going to wear the skimpy summer attire, or even more revealing, that bikini you swore you’d wear to the beach at least once, when you are not exactly svelte? Drag queen Pandora Boxx to the rescue! Ms. Box is in full Jane Fonda workout mode in a DVD titled Workout’s A Drag. No workout clothes for Ms. Box though. She does her exercise routine in heels and a lovely dress. Check it out on the NewNowNext website.

People in Michigan who need to change the gender marker on their driver’s license have faced some of the biggest obstacles found anywhere in the country. They are required to show an amended birth certificate and to have that document changed they are required to have reassignment surgery. A representative in the state legislature is hoping the change the requirements so that it is easier to get the license change. Learn more at the Pride Source website.

Do you want up to date information on what states and municipalities have extended legal protections to trans employees? Back in 2008 The National Law Review did an article on that subject and there has been so much change since then that they have revisited that territory. The update is on their website.

In the early 1900s an aerialist sister act loses one of the sisters. An ad is circulated looking for a woman to replace her. The ad is seen by a young man who has been fascinated by tightrope walking and aerial acrobatics since he was 8-years-old. He applies for the position and is asked if he will mind dressing as a female to be one of the sisters. He agrees to this and becomes the toast of Paris in the 1920s and ‘30s. Sound like a TG fantasy? It’s the story of Barbette, a young man from Round Rock, Texas. Read all about this amazing story in the Houston Chronicle.

TWITs

A columnist for a noted conservative media outlet claims that progressives have resorted to what he calls “gaslighting” the public about the nature of transgender identities. “Gaslighting” is when you try to make someone doubt the nature of reality by manipulating them and their environment. Daniel Payne in his post on June 16 says that the Left keeps shifting to different explanations of why people are trans. He states that progressives don’t want to “…make a coherent argument, but to propagate lies and falsehoods to embarrass and confuse conservatives as much as possible,” There’s no confusion about the TWIT Award Mr. Payne has earned with his lies and propaganda. If you want to see what else he accuses trans people and their allies on the Left of check it out in The Federalist.

How do you take an avowed white supremacist’s murder of 9 African American people and twist things around to blame acceptance of transgender people as the reason the murders happened? First you have to be a pundit on Fox News. Second, you have to totally ignore the fact that trans people exist and they aren’t mentally ill. Then you have to say that liberals accepting trans people as real and valid human beings lets “mental health problems grow.” All this was said by Fox News pundit Erick Erickson last week on that “news” channel. This isn’t the only reason Erickson earns a TWIT Award. He has spouted a lot of other horse manure about many other issues. Read more about his idiotic attempt to link acceptance of TGs with a racist massacre on the Pink News website.

The Organization of American States invited three Central America trans activists to attend the General Assembly last week in Washington, DC. The three were all denied visas by the U.S. Embassies in their countries, Guatemala, El Salvador and Panamá. The reason they were denied seem to be questions about their criminal records. Of course the embassy staff does not take into consideration that trans women in those countries are often harassed by the police. One of the women said that her police trouble was being arrested for walking through the market with her friends. No charges were filed and she was released. Some allege that there is an anti-trans bias at work on the part of the embassy staffers but we hand out TWIT Awards to all staffers involved for failing to consider that the women’s police records were not their fault but the fault of the police. Ironically the event they were to attend was all about human rights. Read the whole story in The Washington Blade.

Tags: Amber Rose, Charles Busch, featured, Laverne Cox, news, Nicole Maines, Pandora Boxx, Transgender, TWIT

Category: Transgender Community News